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The Apostles, Op 49

Introduction

Elgar completed The Apostles in 1903, intending it as the first work of a trilogy. The Kingdom followed in 1906 but the final work, provisionally entitled The Last Judgment, was left as merely a few jottings. Elgar was deeply influenced by the Ring Cycle and decided to emulate Wagner by not only employing many leitmotifs but also assembling his own libretto—based on episodes from the Gospels. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, with a short introduction for orchestra/organ, forms the very opening of a work which has prompted the observation that it is Judas who is given the most distinctive musical characterisation.

'The Abbey Choir … give an excellent account of themselves, the trebles especially singing with the confidence of professional musicianship and w ...'The Westminster Abbey Choir delivers its organ-accompanied programme with beautiful tonal colour and blend' (BBC Music Magazine)» More

Details

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the
Gospel to the poor:
He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted,
to preach deliv’rance to the captives and
recov’ring of sight to the blind,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord;
To give unto them that mourn a garland for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness;
That they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord,
that He might be glorified.
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud,
and as the garden causeth the things that are
sown in it to spring forth;
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and
praise to spring forth before all the nations.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor:
He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted,
to preach deliv’rance to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,—
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord;

To give unto them that mourn a garland for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud,
and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth;
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel.

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

Elgar’s oratorio The Apostles was first heard at Birmingham Town Hall on 14 October 1903. The Prologue ‘The Spirit of the Lord’ was extracted by Novello in 1907 and issued in their series of choruses for church use. The Apostles was the first of Elgar’s two Biblical oratorios to be completed and tells of the calling of the Apostles, their teaching and Jesus’s betrayal and the ascension. He set a composite text which he compiled from a variety of Biblical texts. In the Prologue—Jaeger called it a ‘chorus mysticus’—Elgar introduces many of the musical themes and motifs used throughout, and thus when performed as a separate item it is remarkable for its variety of invention. Jaeger identified a succession of themes starting with the opening idea in the accompaniment which he associated with the Spirit of the Lord. At the words ‘and recovering of sight’ Elgar quotes from his earlier oratorio The Light of Life.